Shanghai’s inflation grew modestly in October, signaling a reasonable inflationary pressure, which may help the city accelerate economic restructuring and reform.
The Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, rose 2.6 percent from a year earlier last month, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday.
The pace rose slightly from the increase of 2.5 percent in September but was slower than the national average of 3.2 percent last month.
“Shanghai has managed a stable inflation, which indicates reasonable inflationary pressure,” said Li Maoyu, an analyst at Changjiang Securities Co.
“It is good for the city to carry out further economic restructuring and reform,” he added.
Food costs, which account for nearly one-third in the CPI basket, were the biggest driver in Shanghai’s moderate inflation growth. They grew 5.7 percent year on year in October, up from the 4.6 percent rise in September.
In the first 10 months, Shanghai’s consumer prices gained 2.3 percent year on year, the bureau’s data showed.
Shanghai’s economy has expanded steadily so far this year. In the third quarter, its gross domestic product rose 7.8 percent from a year earlier, up from 7.6 percent in the second quarter. The city targets economic growth of 7.5 percent this year.
Meanwhile, the city leads others in the country in economic restructuring and implementing new policies.
An example is the Shanghai pilot free trade zone. Opened on September 29, the zone is a national strategy to propel reform and opening-up.
The 29-square-kilometer zone in Pudong New Area is a test bed of several milestone experiments, including easing curbs on foreign investment, further opening of the service sector and deepening financial reforms.
In an interview with Caixin magazine, Han Zheng, Shanghai’s Party chief, said the city is now not so focused on GDP growth but will promote reform and restructuring, with “innovation and transformation being the two major tasks at hand.”